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After the RNC: Stuck in Cruz control and another email scandal

From Cleveland to Philadelphia, Aaron Hutchins follows the 2016 election campaign

Stuck in Cruz control

Before he left Cleveland, while thanking the city of Cleveland for hosting the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump once again made reference to National Enquirer cover story of Ted Cruz’s father being linked to the John F. Kennedy assassination, before adding the tabloid “does have credibility.” He said the Republican base was unified in booing Cruz off the stage, that Cruz’s political career is over and that even if the Texas senator wants to endorse him later, Trump won’t accept it.

Another email scandal for the Democrats

Bernie Sanders once told Hillary Clinton that the American people are “sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” He might think twice about these emails, recently leaked and published on Wikileaks.  The trove of nearly 20,000 emails features everything from Democratic National Convention officials planning to undercut his presidential campaign to Debbie Wasserman Schultz , chair of the DNC, calling Sanders a “damn liar.” On the lighter side, the emails also show Wasserman Schultz struggling to score a handful of tickets for the hit Broadway play “Hamilton.” Search the database of emails yourself here.

Vote Trump, shop Trump

For the woman watching in awe as Ivanka Trump spoke at the Republican National Convention, they can now try to replicate her look. Ivanka tweeted out a link to Macy’s where they can by her “Ivanka Trump Sleeveless Studded Sheath Dress” for US$138. It promptly sold out.

Hardly a vote of confidence

Americans often talk of a two-party system—Republican or Democrat. Not since Ralph Nader in 2000 or Ross Perot in 1992 has a third-party candidate had much influence on a presidential election outcome. And yet, during the week of the Republican convention, Google found Internet searches for “3rd party candidate 2016” jumped by 1,150 per cent. With the two major candidates for president having historically low likability ratings, a spoiler candidate like Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson could come into play. Even Ted Cruz refused to endorse Trump during his convention speech, opting instead to encourage Republicans to “vote your conscience.”

Put up your Dukes

David Duke, the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, will be running for Senate in Louisiana. The white supremacist has had nothing but praise for Trump throughout his campaign, but that doesn’t mean the Republican establishment will support him. Quite the contrary. Roger Villere, chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana, said in a statement: “David Duke is a convicted felon and a hate-filled fraud who does not embody the values of the Republican Party.”

Better late night than never

There is no shortage of TV comedian political commentators (Bill Maher, John Oliver, Samantha Bee), but Jon Stewart returned with a guest appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to rip into two of his favourite targets from his Daily Show hosting days:  Fox News and Donald Trump.

Not quite feeling the Bern

Donald Trump made a direct appeal to Bernie Sanders supporters in his nomination acceptance speech, saying he never stood a chance against Clinton in his bid to be the Democratic Party’s nominee. Well, the Vermont senator was live-tweeting during Trump’s talk, and seen by the amount of retweets he was getting, Sanders followers were listening.

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